US Open - Cleveland, OH - April 21st

Today has been spent playing with Isaiah as today will be the last time I see him until Sunday afternoon. Liz works until 3:30, then she's taking Isaiah to Madison for a couple of days. My flight to Cleveland isn't until tomorrow morning, though.

The preliminary brackets were released today. I took part in the pre-seeds on a conference call with Terry Steiner and the other club coaches. Everything was fairly straight forward in regards to the seeds, however, some coaches always find a way to argue and disagree just for the sake of arguing and disagreeing. The seeds at 55 kg were the most difficult and could have gone a multitude of ways. My girl, Helen Maroulis, drew the short straw and fell to #5. Since only the top 4 are seeded in the bracket, she was drawn in and was lucky to get a wonderful draw with a first round bye then the #2 seed (who she's already defeated twice this season).

I browsed the brackets for the men's freestyle challenge tournament and the Open. There are some interesting bouts in the first round. Two athletes that I used to compete against are pitted in the first round of the challenge tournament at 55 kg. TJ Hill (still representing DSWC, which disbarred in 2001) will take on Jesse West. Hill is 30 and West is 32 years old. Gentlemen, it's time to move on with life and find a hobby that isn't so physically demanding, like golf or bingo, seriously. I'll be sure to watch that match. I guarantee injury time.

I'm also excited to watch homegrown star Jesse Thielke. I contacted him this week to wish him luck and offer my assistance. If time permits, I plan on sitting in his corner. He drew University Greco-Roman champion Niko Triggas from Ohio State. This is going to be a very intriguing match-up. Don't sleep on Thielke, I think he's going to make a big splash this weekend in his senior-level debut.

Others with Wisconsin ties who I'm expecting to do well this weekend are Alyssa Lampe, Deanna Rix, Andrew Howe and Tyler Graff. Lampe is from Tomahawk, WI and I was privileged to coach her in high school. Rix moved to River Falls three years ago to train with Alaina Berube and other Victory athletes. Both are top seeds at their respective weight classes. Howe and Graff are both wrestling the Open instead of FILA Junior Nationals. However, a slew of Wisconsin athletes will compete in the FILA Junior division.

I'm even more excited than I was yesterday. I've never been to Cleveland. The forecast doesn't call for great weather, but I'll be inside most of the weekend. I am, however, excited to soak in the atmosphere of a playoff basketball team. I could see LeBron dropping 40 at least one night that I'm there. I'd still like to hit the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame, too. Tony drove to Louisville, KY and toured the Louisville Slugger plant today. It should be a nice weekend. Plus, the Twins trounced the Tribe last night (in Minneapolis) and I'm going to sport a Twins hat in the rival city.